MuNSEYS  Magazine 

Vol.  XXXIV  Februarx  190b  Number  V 


NEW  YORK'S  GREAT  NEW  L1BRAR\^ 

BY  CLIFFORD  SMYTH 

A  LIBRARY  THAT  EXCEEDS  ALL  OTHERS  IN  ITS  RECORD  OF 
SERVICE  TO  THE  PUBLIC-ITS  MAGNMFICENT  NEW  THREE- 
M  1  L  L  I  O  N  -  D  O  L  L  A  R    BUILDING.    NOW    NEARLY  COMPLETED 

ABL'ILDING  that  will  rank  among  will  have  fifty  arms  reaching  out  inti^ 

the  first  ar(^hitectural  masterpieces  every  district  of  the  metropolis  and  di>- 

of  America,  that  will  contain  the  largest  seminating  its  treasures — that,  in  a  >eii- 

bookcase  in  the  world  stored  with  volumes  tence,  is  the  New  York  Public  Library, 

of  almost  incalculable  value,  and  that  now  rapidly  nearing  c.»mpletion. 


THE  NEW  BUILDING  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  LIBRARY— REAK   VIEW,  FROM  BRV\"      !  M:'  .  .-W'W 
THE  LONG,  NARROW  WINDOWS  THAT  LIGHT  THE  BOOK-ST^( 

2 


518  MUNSEY'S  MAGAZINE 


It  is  well  to  carry  just  this  mental  pic- 
ture of  the  real  visible  thing — a  central 
heart  enshrined  in  a  majestic  temple  of 
learning,  with  fifty  arteries,  or  branches, 
radiating  from  it — when  estimating  the 
position  and  purpose  of  the  new  insti- 
tution in  its  relation  to  the  city  it  is  des- 
tined to  serve. 

By  a  curious  accident  the  site  of  the 
great  library,  in  Bryant  Park,  was  origi- 
nally occupied  by  the  distributing  reser- 
voir of  the  city's  water  supply.  The 
massive  pile  of  P>gyptian  architecture  was 
long  a  familiar  landmark  of  New  York. 
Its  vine-clad  walls,  severely  simple  in 
outline,  were  typical  of  the  city  of  half 
a  century  ago ;  and  when  its  architectural 
style  became  obsolete,  and  its  dimensions 
inadequate  to  the  needs  of  the  rapidly 
growing  metropolis,  the  old  New  Yorker 
was  not  without  his  regrets  that  it  must 
be  torn  down.  It  had  served  him  well  in 
its  day ;  every  house  of  the  old  towm  had 
drawn  from  it ;  but  now  a  new  era  had 
come,  when  the  antiquated  reservoir  of 
water  must  give  place  to  the  modern 
reservoir  of  books. 

To  no  other  great  library  would  the 
figure  of  a  distributing  reservoir  be 
equally  appropriate.  It  is  just  this  fea- 
ture that  gives  to  the  admirable  system 
recently  embodied  in  the  New  York  Pub- 
lic Library  its  distinctive  claim  to  supe- 
riority as  a  great  educational  institution — 
a  claim  which  is  easily  verified  by  com- 
paring its  actual  achievements  with  those 
of  the  four  chief  libraries  of  Europe  and 
the  Congressional  Library  at  ^\'ashington. 

THE  GREAT  LIBRARIES  OF  EUROPE 

The  free  public  library  is  practically  a 
development  of  recent  times.  Of  course, 
there  were  famous  collections  of  manu- 
scripts in  the  days  of  Greek  and  Roman 
culture,  and  even  earlier  than  that ;  but 
it  was  the  printing-press  that  made  possi- 
ble the  great  popular  institutions  of 
o-day.  The  honor  of  being  the  oldest 
now  in  existence  is  claimed  by  that  of 
the  Guildhall,  in  London,  which  dates 
back  to  1420,  when  it  was  founded  by  the 
famous  lord  mayor,  Richard  Whittington. 
But  its  history  is  not  continuous,  for  it 
was  destroyed  in  the  great  London  fire 
of  1666,  and  was  not  revived  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years.  The  magnificent 
lil>rary  of  the  British  Museum  is  compara- 


tively modern,  having  been  started  in 
1753  with  a  bequest  from  Sir  Hans 
Sloane,  which  George  II,  four  years 
later,  supplemented  with  a  gift  of  books 
from  the  royal  shelves.  The  Bodleian,  at 
()xford,  second  of  the  English  libraries 
in  point  of  size,  dates  from  1602. 

In  Germany  there  are  town  libraries 
which  have  been  in  existence  since  the 
fifteenth  century — the  oldest,  it  is  said, 
being  that  of  Regensburg,  founded  in 
1430.  The  Imperial  Library  of  Berlin 
dates  from  1650,  when  the  Electoral 
Library  of  Brandenburg  was  formed  out 
of  various  monastic  collections.  It  owes 
its  later  development  to  the  fostering 
care  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  other 
Hohenzollern  rulers. 

It  was  royal  patronage,  too,  that  made 
possible  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  of 
France,  started  by  Charles  V  in  1364  with 
a  private  collection  of  manuscripts  in 
one  of  the  halls  of  the  Louvre.  This  was 
carried  off  by  the  British  after  the  battle 
of  Agincourt,  but  the  loss  was  made  good 
by  Louis  XI,  who  added  the  first  printed 
books ;  and  most  of  the  subsequent  rulers 
of  France  have  contributed  to  its  growth. 
Napoleon  took  a  great  interest  in  it,  and 
was  one  of  its  chief  benefactors. 

The  Imperial  Library  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, ranking  third  in  size  among  the 
public  collections  of  Europe,  was  the. 
result  of  the  spoliation  of  Poland,  the 
splendid  Zaluski  Library  at  Warsaw, 
numbering  two  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand volumes,  being  seized  by  SuvaroiT  in 
1795  and  carried  to  the  Russian  capital. 

These  four  great  European  libraries 
contain  inestimable  treasures  in  their 
books,  manuscripts,  and  rare  prints  ;  but 
a  survey  of  their  operations  shows  that 
they  do  not  possess  the  same  efficiency, 
the  same  power  of  service  to  the  public, 
that  the  New  York  institution  will  have. 
Originating,  as  they  all  did,  under  the 
active  influence  of  royalty,  it  may  perhaps 
be  that  a  tendency  to  exclusiveness  is 
bound  to  adhere  to  them,  leaving  it  for 
democratic  America  to  develop  an  insti- 
tution whose  wealth  shall  be  of  easv  ac- 
cess even  for  the  humblest.  Their  col- 
lections, priceless  from  the  antiquarian 
point  of  view,  are  not  so  arranged  and  so 
managed  as  to  meet  to  the  fullest  possible 
extent  the  needs  of  the  average  reader. 
None    of    them    maintains  circulating 


520  MUNSKV'S  MAGAZINE 


THE   NEV»-   BUILDING   bv   THE   NEW  YORK    PUBLIC    LIBRARY — CONSTRUCTING   THE   MAIN    BOOK-STACK,  A 
GREAT  STEEL  FRAME  THAT  WILL  HOLD  THREE  AND  A  HALF  MILLION  VOLUMES 


branches,  and  only  one.  the  British 
Museum,  keeps  a  printed  catalogue  of 
all  its  books.  Two — those  of  Berlin  and 
St.  Petersburg — permit  the  withdrawal 
of  volumes  under  certain  conditions  and 
restrictions ;  the  other  two  are  purely 
reference  libraries.  In  the  sphere  of 
general  utility  a  vast  difference  will  be 
shown  to  exist  between  the  European  and 
the  American  foundations. 

xi:\v  York's  earlier  lif.raries 

The  oldest  liljrary  in  the  United  States 
is  that  of  Harvard  University,  dating 
from  1638,  but  the  first  public  institution 
was  that  established  in  New  York  by  the 
Rev.  John  Sharp.  This  worthy,  who  was 
chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  gover- 
nor of  the  province,  bequeathed  his  books 
to  his  fellow  citizens  in  1700.  Tliirty 
years  later  the  collection,  numbering  six- 
teen hundred  and  forty-two  volumes,  w^as 
])laced  in  the  City  Hall,  where  it  was 
known  as  the  New  York  Public  Library. 
Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revo- 
lution, however,  it  was  rechristened  as 
the  Society  Library  of  New  York,  under 
which  title  it  still  exists,  witli  something 


like  a  hundred  thousand  volumes  on  its 
shelves,  for  the  benefit  of  private  sub- 
scribers, in  its  own  building  on  Universitv 
Place. 

The  present  New  York  Public  Library 
is  only  ten  years  old.  It  was  in  1895  that 
the  Astor  Library,  founded  in  1849,  the 
Lenox  Library,  founded  in  1870,  and  the 
Tilden  Trust,  incorporated  in  1887,  were 
consolidated  under  one  board  of  trustees 
and  took  the  new  and  comprehensive  title. 
At  that  time  the  Astor  contained  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven  thousand  volumes, 
with  an  endowment  of  nine  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  dollars ;  the  Lenox  had 
eighty-six  thousand  volumes,  with  an  en- 
dowment of  a  little  more  than  half  a 
million  dollars ;  and  the  Tilden  Trust 
owned  twenty  thousand  books  and  a  fund 
of  two  million  dollars. 

In  the  year  following  this  first  con- 
solidation, the  trustees  appealed  to  the 
city  authorities  for  a  library  building 
to  be  erected  on  tlie  site  of  the  old 
reservoir  in  Bryant  Park,  in  which  all 
their  collections  could  be  brought  to- 
gether for  the  use  of  the  public.  Up 
to  that  time  the  Astor  and  Lenox  had 


NEW  YORK'S  (;ri:ai'  m:\\"  i.ihrar\ 


521 


been  exclusively  reference  libraries.  In 
their  proposition  to  the  city,  however,  a 
plan  for  o[)ening  a  free  circulation  de- 
partment in  the  new  building  was 
broached.  The  appeal  met  with  imme- 
diate approval.  The  authorities  asked 
several  leading  architects  to  compete  for 
plans  for  the  proposed  building,  with 


a  total  to-day  of  thirty-one  such  branches. 
This  remarkable  extension  of  the  under- 
taking was  made  possible  by  an  offer  from 
Andrew  Carnegie,  in  March,  1901,  of 
the  sum  of  five  million,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  for  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  free  circulating  libraries, 
on  condition  that  the  city  should  provide 


THE   NEW    BUILDING   OF   THE    NEW    YORK    PUBLIC    LIBRARY — THE    ENTR.\NCE    HALL    AND  STAIRWAY 

LEADING  TO  THE  READING-ROOM  FLOOR 


tlie  result  that  the  designs  of  Messrs. 
Carrere  and  Hastings  were  accepted,  and 
in  1899  the  work  of  removing  the  reser- 
voir was  commenced. 

Five  years  ago  (  February  25,  1901  ) 
the  library  took  the  next  important  step 
in  the  work  of  consolidation  by  absorb- 
ing into  its  system  the  New  York  Free 
Circulating  Library,  with  eleven  branches 
and  about  a  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
volumes.  Since  that  time  twenty  other 
circulating  libraries  in  different  parts  of 
the  city  have  united  with  the  rest,  making 


the  land  and  bear  the  cost  of  maintenance. 
The  completion  of  the  entire  Carnegie 
plan  will  add  nineteen  more  brandies 
to  the  New  York  Public  Library,  which 
will  thus,  by  the  time  it  opens  its  new- 
quarters  in  Bryant  Park,  own  and  con- 
trol fifty  of  these  working  stations. 

FOR  THE  SERVICE  OK    rilE  IH  HLIC 

It  is  this  elaboration  of  its  system  along 
the  lines  of  practical  utility  that  makes 
the  New  York  Public  Library  uni(]ue 
among  the  great  libraries  of  the  world. 


522  MUNSEV'S 

The  great  institutions  of  Paris,  London, 
and  St.  Petersburg  have  a  larger  number 
of  volumes  on  their  shelves;  all  the 
national  libraries,  with  the  exception  of 
the  French,  have  a  greater  annual  income 
for  the  purchase  of  new  books  and  period- 
icals ;  but  the  readers  enjoying  the  privi- 
leges of  the  New  York  foundation  are  at 
})resent  nearly  three  times  as  many  as 
those  shown  by  the  most  widely  used  of 
the  P^uropean  libraries,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  table  compiled  from 
the  last  annual  reports  of  the  six  libraries 
that  have  been  considered. 

Number  of  volumes — Bibliotheque  Na- 
tionals 2,600,000;  British  Museum,  2,- 
500,000  ;  Imperial  Library  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, 1,445,000;  New  York  Public 
Library,  1,390,000;  Congressional  Li- 
brary, Washington,  1,275,667  ;  Imperial 
Library  of  Berlin,  1,228,000. 

Number  of  volumes  taken  by  readers — 
New  York  Public  Library,  4,306,954; 
British  Museum,  1,590,000;  Imperial  Li- 
brary of  St.  Petersburg,  622,243;  Im- 
perial Library  of  Berlin,  483,821  ;  Con- 
gressional Library,  323,861  ;  Bibliotheque 
Nationale,  no  report. 

Expeiiditure  for  books  and  periodicals 
—British  Museum,  $110,000;  Congres- 
sional Library,  $99,226;  Imperial  Li- 
brary of  St.  Petersburg,  $41,580;  Im- 
perial Library  of  Berlin,  $35,136;  New 
York  Public  Library,  exclusive  of  its  cir- 
culating branches,  $25,000;  Bibliotheque 
Nationale,  $20,000. 

The  number  of  readers  using  the  pres- 
ent branches  of  the  New  York  institu- 
tion is  a  remarkable  development,  prob- 
ably unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
libraries.  When  the  new  central  building 
is  opened,  and  the  full  quota  of  stations 
in  working  order,  the  figure  w'ill  no  doubt 
l)e  greatly  increased.  There  will  also  be 
a  large  addition  to  the  annual  income,  de- 
rived from  the  sale  of  the  Astor  and 
Lenox  buildings,  the  value  of  which  is 
estimated  at  four  million  dollars.  Even 
then,  however,  the  fund  available  for 
])urchases  will  fall  short  of  that  en- 
joyed by  either  the  l^ritish  Museum  or 
the  Congressional  Library,  and  it  must  be 
left  to  the  munificence  of  some  future 
patron  to  add  to  tlie  present  endowment 
a  sum  that  will  adetjuately  meet  the  needs 
of  a  great  working  library.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  while  the  govern- 


MAGAZINE 

mental  libraries  receive  large  numbers 
of  books  under  the  copyright  laws,  the 
New  York  institution  has  no  such  re- 
source. 

Had  the  full  amount  contemplated  by 
Tilden  in  his  bequest — between  six  and 
eight  million  dollars — been  given  to  the 
purpose  originally  intended,  the  New 
York  Public  I>ibrary  would  be  the  best 
endowed  in  the  w^orld,  as  it  undoubtedly 
is  the  most  efficient  in  creating  and  sup- 
plying a  public  demand  for  literature. 
For  its  present  marvelous  degree  of  suc- 
cess, praise  is  due  to  the  masterly  manner 
in  which  the  consolidation  of  its  various 
collections  and  interests  has  been  planned 
and  carried  out — a  w^ork  in  which  the 
venerable  president  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, John  Bigelow,  formerly  United 
States  minister  to  France,  and  the  direc- 
tor. Dr.  John  S.  Billings,  are  conspicuous. 

THE  GREAT  NEW  LIBRARY  BUILDING 

The  exterior  of  the  stately  edifice  that 
is  to  be  the  keystone,  the  visible  symbol, 
of  this  gigantic  system  is  now  practically 
completed,  work  on  the  interior  being 
still  in  progress.  Architecturally,  the 
building  may  be  characterized  as  belong- 
ing to  the  classical  renaissance,  more  or 
less  in  the  special  style  of  the  Louis  XVI 
period,  with  such  modifications  as  the  con- 
ditions and  needs  of  the  age  have  sug- 
gested, it  being  the  expressed  purpose  of 
the  architects  to  make  it  representative, 
as  far  as  possible,  of  modern  New  Y»rk. 

The  important  features  of  the  interior 
are  to  be  the  lending  department  on  the 
basement  floor,  entered  from  the  center 
of  the  building  on  Forty-Second  Street ; 
special  reading-rooms  on  the  second  floor 
for  students  and  scholars,  to  which  access 
will  be  by  ticket ;  general  reading-rooms, 
open  to  the  public,  including  a  children's 
department,  and  periodical  and  news- 
paper rooms,  on  the  first  floor  ;  and  the 
main  reading-room  on  the  third  floor,  im- 
mediately over  the  great  stack  for  the 
storing  of  books. 

This  book-stack  is  to  be  one  of  the 
unique  features  of  the  library,  embracing 
in  its  construction  the  latest  appliances 
for  the  shelving  of  books.  It  is  to  be 
made  of  steel,  filling'  a  floor  space  of 
seventy-eight  by  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  feet,  and  rising  in  seven  tiers,  each 
ninety  inches  high.    It  is  by  far  the  largest 


m:\\'  \()RK"s  (;ri:ai'  nkw  lihrar\' 


528 


THE  NEW  BUILDING  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  LIBRARY — THE  MAIN  ENTRANCE 
ON  FIFTH  AVENUE 


THE  NEW  BUILDING  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  LIBRARY— THE  INTERIOR  COURT 


Ixxjkcase  ever  constructed.  According  to 
the  comj)Utations  of  the  architects,  its 
ninety-seven  thousand  shelves,  if  laid  to- 
<;cther  end  to  end,  would  measure  four 
liundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  feet  in 
lengtli,  or  more  than  eighty  miles,  and  it 
will  hold  tliree  and  a  half  millions  of  vol- 
umes— an  ample  provision  for  the  future 
growth  of  the  library.  Its  actual  weight, 
empty,  is  eight  million  pounds.  Filled 
with  books  to  its  full  capacity,  it  would 
weigh  more  than  twelve  million  ])ounds 
— approximating  the  tonnage  of  a  battle- 
ship like  the  Texas. 

'Jlie  main  reading-room,  directly  above 
the  book-stack,  is  to  be  quite  or  nearly 
the  largest  in  any  public  library,  having 
a  seating  capacity  for  about  eight  hun- 


dred people,  almost  double  the  space  al- 
lotted to  the  public  in  the  famous  circu- 
lar reading-room  of  the  British  Museum, 
built  fifty  years  ago. 

THE   TREASUKES   OF  THE  LIBRARY 

When  the  Astor,  I>enox,  and  Tilden 
collections  are  finally  brought  together 
in  the  new  building,  their  value  will  be 
decidedly  enhanced  for  the  student  of 
special  subjects.  All  three  libraries  are 
extremely  rich  in  literature  relating  to 
America.  James  Lenox,  founder  of  the  in- 
stitution bearing  his  name,  was  a  million- 
aire with  a  passion  for  collecting  Amer- 
icana, and  started  his  library  by  l)uying 
up  everything  that  had  been  printed  prior 
to  1700  bearing  on  the  new  world.  To 


NEW  YORK'S  (iRKAT  \K\V  LIHRARV 


525 


his  collection,  greatly  enlarged  since  pass- 
ing out  of  his  hands,  there  have  been 
added  the  historical  library  of  George 
Bancroft  and  the  Emmet  papers  relating 
to  the  Revolution.  All  this,  combined 
with  similar  material  in  the  Astor  Library, 
forms  a  priceless  mass  of  Americana, 
comprising  thirty- four  thousand  volumes, 
fifty  thousand  manuscripts,  and  sixty 
thousand  public  documents. 

For  the  student  in  American  history  of 
the  Revolutionary  period  and  after,  the 
nev.-spaper  files  on  the  shelves  of  the 
library  are  probably  of  more  practical 
use  than  even  these  rare  volumes  and 
manuscripts.  The  first  newspaper  to  ap- 
pear in  the  United  States  was  the  Boston 
Ncivs  Letter,  in  1706.  The  library  files 
start  with  1710,  and  the  first  twenty-three 
years  are  rather  fragmentary  in  places ; 
but  the  catalogue  shows  a  thousand  vol- 
umes of  American  newspapers  published 
before  the  year  1800,  with  an  almost 
complete  series  of  New  York  papers  from 
1 733  to  the  present  day. 

A  huge  newspaper-room  in  the  new 
building,  with  a  separate  income  of  three 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  making  possible 
the  purchase  and  preservation  of  about 
two  hundred  of  the  important  journals  of 
the  world,  is  one  of  the  director's  plans. 
It  is  a  curious  fact,  however,  that  none  of 
the  present-day  newspapers  is  capable 
of  preservation  for  more  than  a  brief 
period,  the  wood  pulp  of  which  they  are 
composed  being  perishable.  Thus  there 
will  be  handed  down  to  coming  genera- 
tions the  newspapers  of  a  century  or  more 
ago,  but  none  of  to-day.  In  view  of  this 
inevitable  break  in  future  historical  rec- 
ords. Dr.  Billings  recently  made  the  in- 
teresting suggestion  to  the  publishers  of 
two  New  York  dailies  that  they  should 
print  fifty  copies  of  each  edition  on  linen 
rag  paper  and  file  them  in  the  leading  li- 
braries of  the  country.  Papers  thus  printed 
will  remain  sound  and  legible  when  the 
myriads  that  make  up  the  list  of  modern 
newspaperdom  have  crumbled  into  dust — 
a  consideration  that  may  possibly  appeal 
to  some  abnormally  far-seeing  advertis- 
ing manager. 

Besides  its  rare  possessions  in  the  field 
of  American  history,  the  New  York  Pub- 
lic Library  has  a  number  of  valuable 
special  collections  which  are  waiting  to 
be  placed  in  the  reserved  rooms  of  the 


Bryant  Park  building.  'Hiese  collections 
incUide  three  tliousand  volumes  of  Shakes- 
})eriana,  containing  four  copies  of  the 
Lirst  Folio,  nine  copies  of  the  Second 
Folio,  with  a  whole  shelf  of  the  original 
Quartos  ;  ten  thousand  volumes  of  music  ; 
eight  thousand  volumes  of  a  Bible  collec- 
tion ;  twenty-one  thousand  volumes  of  a 
geographical  collection,  containing  al- 
most all  that  there  is  in  geographical  lit- 
erature before  1500,  with  four  thousand 
maps  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  most  valuable  single  work  in  the 
library  is  a  manuscript  gospel  lectionary, 
by  Julio  Clovio,  of  the  early  sixteenth 
century.  This  book  was  at  one  time  in 
the  Vatican,  and  cost  more  than  eleven 
thousand  dollars.  There  is  also  the  first 
edition  of  Columbus'  Letter,  the  most 
valuable  among  the  library's  printed 
books,  costing  seventy-five  hundred  dol- 
lars. A  collection  of  prints,  unsurpassed 
in  its  field,  numbering  nineteen  thousand 
engravings  and  about  five  hundred  vol- 
umes, is  another  of  the  most  important 
possessions  of  the  institution. 

The  removal  and  rearrangement  of  all 
the  collections  to  the  central  building 
might  be  expected  to  occupy  a  consider- 
able time,  and  to  cause  no  small  inct)n- 
venience  to  readers.  The  whole  under- 
taking, however,  according  to  the  present 
plans,  will  be  completed  in  the  ^:pace  of 
two  weeks,  and  the  books  will  be  brought 
together  on  their  new  shelves  without  ne- 
cessitating any  change  in  the  catalogues. 
The  possibility  of  accomplishing  such  an 
elaborate  transfer  without  a  prolonged 
suspension  of  its  regular  activities  gives 
further  evidence  of  the  skilful  manage- 
ment and  the  forethought  for  the  public 
that  have  characterized  the  library  during 
the  ten  years  of  the  present  regime. 

Owing  to  the  delays  that  seem  to  be  in- 
evitable in  a  work  of  such  magnitude  and 
importance,  the  Bryant  Park  building 
has  not  been  completed  within  the  time 
originally  set.  No  further  obstacle,  how- 
ever, is  likely  to  be  encountered,  and  at 
an  early  date  the  New  York  Public  Li- 
l)rary  may  be  expected  to  open  the  doors 
of  a  new  era  to  a  world  it  has  served, 
hitherto,  with  an  efficiency  and  thorough- 
ness which  their  own  limitations  of  pur- 
pose and  equipment  have  rendered  impos- 
sible to  similar  institutions  elsewhere. 


BEAUTY  AND  THE  BEAST 

BY  ROGER  POCOCK 


1WANT  a  job,"  said  the  tramp  re- 
sentfully.    You've  got  to  give  me 
*  job — d'ye  hear?  " 

The  clerk  was  scornful. 
"  You  want  to  go,"  he  answered,  "  to 
r.he  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Destitute 
Englishmen.  Clear  out  of  here,  now  !  " 

The  tramp  looked  round  the  wails  of 
the  room,  the  ticket-office  of  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  at  Winnipeg.  Then  he  saw 
a  public  notice  beside  the  door : 

"  Fort  Osborne — Northwest  Mounted 
Police — Recruits  Wanted." 

He  strolled  across  to  read  particulars, 
and  through  the  tail  of  his  eye  watched 
a  pretty  girl  come  in  with  her  arms  full 
of  parcels. 

"  1  want  a  ticket,  please,"  he  heard  her 
say.  "  First  class  for  Calgary.  How 
much?" 

The  clerk  politely  explained  about 
Pullman  berths. 

"  But  they're  so  dear !  " 

He  expounded  the  inconveniences  of 
r.he  day-car  at  night  for  single  ladies. 

"  Oh,"  she  blushed  hotly,  "  but  a  gen- 
tleman is  joining  me  at  Troy." 

Her  voice  so  thrilled  the  tramp  that  he 
missed  whole  passages  of  the  notice, 
about  "  understanding  the  care  and  man- 
agement of  horses  "  and  "  certificates  of 
good  conduct  from  the  clergy."  The 
pretty  girl  got  her  ticket,  gathered  her 
parcels,  and  made  for  the  door.  The 
clerk  was  still  chanting  details  about  to- 
morrow's train,  while  the  tramp  muttered 
phrases  from  the  police  advertisement. 

A  crash  awakened  him  from  his  reverie, 
for  the  lady  had  dropped  all  her  parcels. 
Of  course  he  jumped  to  pick  them  up,  and 
naturally  he  craved  for  more  to  do  in  lier 
service;  so,  kneeling  at  her  feet,  he  un- 
lashed  the  largest  parcel  and  used  its 
string  to  make  them  all  into  a  convenient 
bundle.  Then  the  clerk  jumped  over  the 
counter  and  interfered,  accusinp:  him  of 
theft. 


As  the  tramp  got  up  he  deftly  kicked 
out  backward  with  one  leg,  propelling  the 
clerk  into  a  distant  corner.  This  seemed 
to  cause  excitement  throughout  the  office^ 
but  the  offender  was  too  busy  to  attend 
to  that,  while  he  held  the  door  and  fol- 
lowed  the  lady  outside. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  protested.  "  You  shouldn't 
have  done  that !  " 

The  tramp  grinned  bashfully  as  he 
gave  her  the  parcel,  but  the  clerk,  coming 
out  with  vengeance  in  his  eye,  got  a  sec- 
ond kick,  more  vicious  than  the  first, 
which  put  him  out  of  action  and  inside 
the  building. 

The  pretty  girl  stood  bewildered.  She 
glanced  at  the  tramp's  tanned  face,  which 
was  gaunt  with  hunger  ;  his  red-gold  hair, 
which  flamed  uncovered  in  the  sunlight : 
his  hard^  blue  eyes,  which  defied  her;  his 
rags,  which  fluttered  in  the  piercing  wind  ; 
his  long  boots  gone  over  at  the  heels, 
the  unmistakable  signs  which  branded 
him  a  sailor.  She  felt  that  he  was  des- 
perate with  hunger,  in  danger  of  arrest — 
then  opened  her  purse  and  timidly  offered 
a  coin,  knowing  all  the  while  that  she 
insulted  him.  Without  a  word  he  turned 
his  back  on  her. 

The  girl  stood  looking  after  him,  re- 
sentful at  being  put  in  the  wrong,  and 
then  turned  to  her  own  affairs,  for  she 
was  busy.  The  man  walked  rapidly  up 
Main  Street,  thinking  out  bitter  things 
that  he  might  have  said,  until  other 
thoughts  began  to  move  in  him,  and  he 
asked  the  way  to  the  recruiting  depot  of 
the  Mounted  Police.  Would  the  uniform 
be  blue  or  gray,  he  wondered?  Would 
they  give  him  something  to  eat? 

So  he  came  to  Fort' Osborne,  and  when 
he  saw  the  sentry  at  the  gate  his  memory 
flashed  to  Whitehall,  to  the  Life  Guards, 
to  the  beanpole  in  boots  and  a  tin  hat 
whom  he  had  once  derided  and  admired. 
71iis  man  was  still  bigger,  a  giant  wearing 
the  imperial  scarlet,  with  helmet  and 


